A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the handling, transport, and/or storage of items, such as wearing apparel which are hung on hangers, and more particularly to a method which is particularly adopted to be used in present day distribution systems for wearing apparel.
B. Background Art
In the garment industry, it is common that the garments that are made at a manufacturing location are shipped to a distribution center, and at the distribution center the garments are sorted out and delivered to various end user locations, such as retail stores or a warehouse. Such a prior art distribution system is illustrated schematically in FIG. 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, this prior art distribution system 10 comprises a distribution center 12 which has an in-bound location 14 at which the garments or other merchandise are received at the distribution center 12, for example from a factory, and an out-bound location 16 at which the garments are sent from the distribution center 12 to an end location, such as a retail store or a warehouse, these being shown schematically in FIG. 1 and identified by the numeral 17. As shown herein, and as is common in this industry, the in-bound and out-bound locations 14 and 16, respectively, are positioned on opposite sides of the distribution center facility 12.
There is shown in FIG. 1 several trucks or semi-trailers 18 which are positioned to deliver merchandise to the distribution center 12, and in this instance the merchandise are garments or other items of apparel. These items of clothing or garments could be delivered, for example, in crates. The crates are unloaded and the garments removed therefrom, and then these garments are placed on hangers at a sorting location 20 which would be at a location convenient to the in-bound location 14.
The main function that is performed at this sorting location 20 is to sort through the various merchandise that is received and arrange the merchandise to be sent to the various intended locations. In a typical situation, there would be available at the sorting location 20 a plurality of orders which have been placed by various warehouses or retail stores. Then, the items of clothing on a certain order would be selected from the garments within those types so that the correct number of the various types of garments could be sent to a particular store or warehouse location. There is shown schematically a table 22, and the table 22 or the tables could be used by workers to assist them in going through this sorting process.
There is shown schematically in FIG. 1 a rail system 24, and this rail system 24 has a garment loading location 26 and a garment unloading location 28. To move these garments, there are provided transport units 30, one of which is shown in FIG. 1A. This prior art transport unit 30 has been in use for a number of decades, and comprises front and rear roller assemblies 32 and 33, respectively, which in the operating position are located on top of and in engagement with a rail 34 that is part of the rail system 24. There are forward and rear vertically aligned end support members 36, each having an upper connecting portions 38 to connect to its related roller assembly 32 or 33 and a lower connecting portion 40. There is an elongate garment support member 42 in the form of a rod, having front and rear end portions 44 and 45, respectively, that are rigidly connected to the lower connecting portions 40 of the end support members 36 to make the end support members 36 and the garment support member 42 a rigid structure. The clothing hangers with the garments or other clothing thereon are hooked onto the elongate garment support member 42 for transportation.
After an individual transport unit 30 has the garments loaded thereon, this transport unit 30 moves through the rail system 24 to arrive at its truck loading location 28.
The transport units 30 that carry the apparel from the in-bound location 14 to the out-bound location 16 can be moved along the rail system 24 manually by a person pushing on the transport unit 30 or on the garments which are suspended therefrom. However, quite often a mechanical conveying system is used in distribution centers to move the transport units 30 through the rail system 24. A portion of this conveying system is shown in FIGS. 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F, and 1G, and this will be described later in this text.
The loaded transport units 30 travel through the rail system 24 and arrive at the truck loading location 28. There would be other trucks or semi-trailers 18 at the truck loading location 28 to receive the garments, and many of these trucks 18 would be equipped with rails. The transport units 30 are then moved through transition connecting rails onto the rail system in that particular truck. Then when the truck delivers the garments to the end location 17 (e.g., a retail store), the transport units 30 could be unloaded from the trucks 18 by moving the transport units 30 along the rails in the truck 18 into the receiving area at the end location 17.
Once the clothing garments are unloaded from the truck 18 at the end destination 17, such as a retail store, these can be handled in various ways. The garments or other clothing items could be possibly moved onto an existing rail system in that particular store or warehouse and carried to a desired location. Alternatively, the hangers with the clothing thereon could be taken from the transport unit 30 and hung on a rail of a wheeled cart and taken into the desired location or handled in some other manner.
To describe the rail system 24 in more detail, reference is made to FIG. 1. At the garment loading location 26, there is a plurality of garment loading rail sections 46, with each rail section 46 supporting one of the transport units 30 which is being loaded with garments or other articles of clothing. These garment loading rail sections 46 at the garment loading location 22 form an inbound rail region 47 followed by a converging rail region 48 where the various rails sections 46 converge with one another to lead into an induction region 50.
This induction section 50 in turn leads to a main rail region 52 which can be considered as an intermediate rail region 52 which is shown herein as a single rail that continues from induction rail region 50. In some larger distribution centers, this main rail region 52 may extend over a relatively large distance, and could even go from one building to another, sometimes traveling at an uphill slant, on a level portion, and then on a downward slant to a following location. Also, it could comprise a plurality of rail sections having switching locations, etc.
At the end of the main rail region 52, there is a diverging rail region 54 where the various transport units 30 are switched off from the main rail region 52 and into a number of separate rails at this diverging rail region 54. The rails from the diverging rail region in turn lead into the out-bound rail region 56 where the rail units 30 with the garments still being carried thereon are moved into rails that are on the individual trucks 18. In this prior art arrangement, each of the transport units 30 with the garments loaded thereon moves into the truck 18 to be carried to one of the end destinations 17. Then at a later time, these transport units 30 are carried from the end destinations 17 by truck back to the distribution center 12 to be again moved to the garment loading rail sections 46.
As indicated earlier in this text, there is quite often provided a mechanical conveying system to move the transport units 30 through the rail system 24. To describe one such conveying system 58, reference is now made to FIGS. 1B–1G, which comprise six figures that show the induction section 50 and the sequence of the transport units 30 having been moved from the converging section 48 are now moving through the induction section 50, and from thereon to the main rail section 52. The rail system 24 and the conveying system 58 function together as a rail/conveying system 24/58 with the rail system and conveying system functioning as cooperating subsystems 24 and 58, respectively.
With reference first to FIG. 1B, there is shown the induction section 50, and a portion of the conveying system 58 This conveying system 58 comprises an endless conveying chain 60, a portion of which is shown at FIG. 1B. There is mounted to the conveying chain 60 a plurality of pairs 62 of front and rear conveying element 64 and 66 which are designated as “hard dogs 64 and 66”, respectively, in the text which follows. The pairs 62 of the hard dogs 64 and 66 are arranged so that the pairs 62 are spaced at even distances along the conveying chain 60, with the spacing distance between each pair 64 and 66 being indicated at 68 in FIG. 1B. In the following text the term “conveying chain” is used in a broader sense and is meant to include various devices, mechanisms, or systems to move the conveying elements along the conveying path. Each portion of the endless conveying chain 60 extending between any two adjacent pairs 62 of hard dogs 64–66 is referred to as an “engaging section 69” of the conveying chain 60, and this engaging section 69 has an engaging length dimension or distance which is indicated at 70. The engaging distance 70 of each engaging section 69 is moderately greater than the lengthwise dimension 71 of each of the transport units 30.
The induction region 50 of the rail system 24 is located between the inbound rail region and the intermediate or main rail region and comprises an in-feed rail section 72, the rear end of which is immediately adjacent to the forward end of the converging section 48. This in-feed rail section 72 is a single elongate rail section that has sufficient length so as to accommodate a plurality of the transport units 30 being mounted along its length in end-to-end relationship. This could accommodate, for example, as many as ten to fifteen transport units 30. This in-feed rail section 72 has a moderate downward slope in a forward direction so that when the transport units 30 are moved from the converging section 48 onto the induction region 50, these are gravity fed in a forward direction along the induction section 50.
The forward end of the in-feed rail section 72 joins at a pivot connection 74 to a rear end of an induction rail member 76, with this induction rail member 76 having a moveable front end portion 78. The induction rail member 76 is arranged so that the front end portion 78 of the induction rail member 76 can move rotatably a short distance upwardly and downwardly about the pivot connection 74 between a lower position as shown in FIG. 1B, and an upper position as shown in FIG. 1D. In the upper position of FIG. 1D, the moveable forward end portion 78 of the induction rail member 76 is aligned with a rear end portion 80 of the main rail section 52, and in its down position as shown in FIGS. 1B and 1C, the forward moveable end portion 78 of the induction rail member 76 is a short distance below the rear end portion 80 of the main rail section 52.
A stop member 82 is located at the rearwardly facing surface of the rear end portion 80 of the main rail section 52, and extends a short distance downwardly therefrom. An actuator 84 is provided to move the forward moveable end portion 78 of the induction rail member 76 upwardly and downwardly between its aligned position of FIG. 1D, and its down position as shown in FIGS. 1B and 1C.
A sensor 86 is provided at a location which is a short distance rearwardly of the stop member 82, and this sensor 86 has a detecting device which is shown herein as a finger 88 that is positioned so that it is able to engage each of the forward vertical end support members 36 of each transport unit 30 that passes by the sensor 86. Also, there is a retaining device 90 which is located (or closely adjacent to) the pivot location 74 of the induction rail member 76. This retaining device 90 is shown as a pivotally mounted arm member which has a non-retaining position (as shown in FIG. 1B), and a retaining position (as shown in FIG. 1C) where it is positioned to engage a forward support member 36 of a transport unit 30 to retain that transport unit 30 and then release it so the transport unit 30 will roll onto the induction rail member 76.
Let us now review the operation of this induction section 50 in moving the transport units 30 from the converging section 48, through the induction rail section 50, and onto the main rail section 52.
In FIG. 1B, the induction rail member 76 is in its down position, with several transport units 30 mounted in line on the in-feed rail section 72, and the retaining member 90 has moved to its retracted position to release the most forward transport unit 30-1 so that it can roll onto the induction rail member 76. With the in-feed rail section 72 having a forward and downward slope, by gravity feed the several transport units 30-1, 30-2, 30-3, and 30-4 roll downwardly and forwardly until the most forward transport unit 30 engages the stop member 82. At the same time, the rear vertical end support member 36 of the forward-most transport unit 30-1 is just forward of the location of the retaining member 90. The retaining member 90 moves from the position of FIG. 1B to its retaining position of FIG. 1C, where it is just forward of the forward end support member 36 of the transport unit 30-2 which is immediately behind the transport unit 30-1 that is now positioned substantially entirely on the induction rail member 76.
The system is arranged so that when the leading transport unit 30-1 has moved to the position where the forward roller assembly 32 is in contact with the stop member 82 (see FIG. 1C), there is a pair 62 of hard dogs 64 and 66 that are now being carried by the conveying chain 60 over induction rail member 76, but is positioned a short distance rearwardly of the forward roller assembly 32 of the leading transport unit 30-1. The actuator 84 is energized to move the moveable forward end portion 78 of the induction rail member 76 upwardly into its upper aligned position (see FIG. 1D).
As shown in FIG. 1D, the leading transport unit 30-1 is still positioned on the induction rail member 76, and the forward hard dog 64 has already engaged the forward roller assembly 32. Each forward hard dog 64 has a pivot mounting at 92 so that it is able to swing rearwardly (i.e., in a counter-clockwise direction as seen in FIG. 1D), so that the forward hard dog 64 simply rotates to slide over the forward roller assembly 32. However, when the forward hard dog 64 has passed over the forward roller assembly, the forward hard dog 64 drops downwardly to its vertical position where it is blocked from any further forward rotational movement.
As shown in FIG. 1E, the rear hard dog member 66 has now engaged the front roller assembly 32 and has moved the transport unit 30-1 a short distance forwardly. Also, the next transport unit 30-2 has moved a short distance forward to engage the retaining device 90. In this position of FIG. 1E, the forward roller assembly 32 of transport unit 30-1 is now confined to be positioned between the forward and rear hard dogs 64 and 66 of that particular pair 62. Therefore, at such time as the conveying chain 60 moves the transport unit 30-1 to a location of the main rail section 52 that has a downward and forward slope, the transport unit 30 is constrained by the forward hard dog 64 from over-running the pair 62 of hard dogs 64 and 66.
As the conveying chain 60 moves a short distance further forward from the position of FIG. 1E to the position of FIG. 1F, the rear roller assembly 33 of the transport unit 30-1 is just about to pass the location of the forward moveable end portion 78 of the induction rail member 76. Also, the next adjacent pair 62 of hard dogs 64 and 66 is positioned over a rear portion of the induction rail member 76. At this time, the finger 88 of the sensor 86 detects that the rear vertical support member 36 of the forward-most transport unit 30-1 is passing from the location of the moveable forward end portion of the induction rail member 76, and this sends a signal that causes the actuator 84 to move the forward moveable end portion 78 of the induction rail member 76 downwardly to the position of FIG. 1G. Also, at the same time, the signal generated by the sensor 86 results in the retaining device 90 moving to its release position (as shown in FIG. 1G), after which the next transport unit 30-2 moves into the induction position where it is on the induction rail member 76, and it is ready to be lifted into the position of FIG. 1D to be engaged by the following pair 62 of hard dogs 64 and 66.
It is to be understood that the rail system 24 and the conveying system 58 are operatively connected to a control section which could be a micro-computer, so that the location of the pairs 62 of the hard dogs 64–66, the action of the actuator 84, and the input from the sensor 86 are fed into the control system so that all these are properly synchronized to accomplish the sequence of operation as described herein and as shown in FIGS. 1B–1G.
After each trolley unit 30 is moved from the induction location of the induction rail member 76 and onto the rail in the main rail region 52, the endless conveying chain 60 continues to move each trolley unit 30 along the main rail section 52 toward the diverging rail region 54. In order for this control system to move each trolley unit to the correct out-bound location, at the time that each of the trolley units are on the rail at the garment loading rail section 46, and after the allotted garments have been loaded onto the garment support member or rod 42, the garments are generally covered with a garment bag and an encoded identification tag is placed on the garment tag. Then, when the garment bag is traveling over the main rail region 52, it reaches an identifying location where the encoded tag is read by an identifying device, and the information from that tag is in turn forwarded to the control system which controls the various switches which would exist in the diverging rail section 54 which leads to outbound rails that comprise the outbound rail region 56.
This control system operates the various switches in a manner so that each of the transport units 30 are guided to the proper location of the appropriate truck 18 which is to go to the end location 17 to which the garments on that particular transport unit 30 intend to be delivered.
A search of the U.S. patent literature disclosed a number of patents, and these are described briefly below.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,345 (Hilstolsky et al.) shows a garment holder assembly 10 which is shown in the patent as being used in conjunction with a conventional transport unit 15/17, such as shown at 30 in FIG. 1A, and described previously herein. FIGS. 4 and 6 from this Hilstolsky patent are shown in the drawings of this patent application as FIGS. 1H and 1J. The numerical designations which appear in FIGS. 1H and 1 J are the same as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6 of the Hilstolsky patent The garment assembly 10 of the Hilstolsky patent comprises a rigid wire support structure 12 having dividers 14 at spaced locations in the rigid wire structure 12. This wire support structure 12 can be deployed in two positions, namely a horizontal position as shown in FIG. 1H, where it is removably hung to a horizontal member of the transport unit 15/17, such as shown at 30 in FIG. 1A and a vertically aligned position as shown in FIG. 1J, where an end portion of the rigid wire support structure 12 is suspended from the rail 13 by means of a link 26 that connects to a roller hook 27 that in turn engages the stationary rail 13.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,107,996 (Whitaker) shows what is termed an “Apparatus for the Suspension Storage of Articles of Clothing” where there are two mounting hooks 12a and 12b that engage a horizontal garment rod 14, and a brace element 16 having through holes 24 and extending between the two hooks 12a and 12b. The clothes hangers are hung from the openings 24 and the brace element 22 has vertically aligned and horizontally aligned positions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,568 (Lahmann) discloses what is termed a “Coat Hanger Suspending Device” where there are two hook members 6 that engage a horizontal pole 3, and an elongate rod member 2 extending between the hook members 6. The hangers are hung through holes 4 in the elongate member 2, and the elongate member 2 can be positioned in a horizontal or a vertical position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,429,797 (Collins) discloses what is termed a “tie caddy” which comprises an elongate member 10 called a “spine” on which are mounted pairs of arms 26. There is a loop connector 12 at one end and a hook 20 at the other end. This device can be hung with the spine extending horizontally to support the ties or extending vertically.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,833 (Usner) discloses an “Angled Roller Device for Multiple Garment Hanger Rope/Sling” which comprises an arcuate hook having three rollers thereon which engage an elongate rod. There is a loop at the lower end, and there is a rope sling that hangs downwardly and is engaged by the hooks of several clothes hangers.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,425,146 (Commis et al) discloses a collapsible clothing hanger where there is an elongate supporting bar 17 having a plurality of spaced slots on which clothing hangers 32 can be hung. This supporting bar 17 can be moved relative to a link 16 which has pivot connecting locations at 20 and 22 between a horizontal and a vertical position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,508 (Rifkin et al.) shows what is termed “Trolley and Bag Assembly for Transporting Hanger/Hung Garments.” There is a trolley and bag assembly to transport hanger/hung garments on overhead rails. There is a retractable hold-down bar having a raised position and a lower position where it clamps the hooks of the hangers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,840 (Usner) discloses a trolley bar that is hung from a trolley rail and is removable therefrom. There is provided a bridle which is shown in FIG. 2 in its locking position on the trolley bar, and in FIG. 3 shows it in its unlocked position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,037,728 (Cameron) discloses a trolley 10 having first and second roller assemblies 11 and 12 riding on a rail 13. There is provided a clamping bar by which the hooks of the hangers are clamped to the hanger bar.